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Labor Day weekend is fast approaching and this morning I had a chance to visit the picket line in front of the Fairmont Miramar. For anyone living under a rock, workers at the Fairmont Miramar, three other Santa Monica hotels and dozens more throughout the Southland have been on strike since the beginning of March under the banner of their union, Unite Here Local 11.
We have some exciting bonus coverage planned for this weekend, but for anyone that hasn’t seen the pickets; check out these images below of what’s become a daily site in Santa Monica. If you’d like to catch up, here’s our coverage from the past two month:
They’re hidden by the signs, but you can see the security guards watching the strike behind the property line.Strikers rally in front of the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows on Wilshire BoulevardDrums have drawn the ire of some neighbors, but they pull eyes to the protest from the heavily pedestrianized area one block away.Strikers were greeted by supportive honks as cars passed them on Wilshire Blvd.Saint Monica looks over the protestors.As more workers arrived, the picketing spread out to surround the hotel and not just the high-visibility entrance on Wilshire Boulevard.
Damien is the executive director of the Southern California Streets Initiative which publishes Santa Monica Next, Streetsblog Los Angeles, Streetsblog San Francisco, Streetsblog California and Longbeachize.
